Listening to the Quiet

Yesterday I was sitting in the waiting room of a doctor's office waiting for my mother.  It was a very nice waiting room.  One of those clean and spacious ones with nice furniture, a large flat screen television and two very large salt water fish tanks.  For about an hour there was only about a total of eight people as they came and went.  Everyone quietly waited for their turn to see their doctor.  I read a book and would occasionally look up at the fish tanks and get a nice tranquil feeling.  Then came a young girl with an older woman, maybe her grandmother who broke the pleasant atmosphere by talking loudly on her cell phone.  Thankfully I didn't have to listen to her too long because my mother was done with her appointment shortly after she arrived.

This made me think of one of my favorite things to do.  Listen to the quiet.  Even though the waiting room wasn't totally quiet, the television was at a volume that did not invade your senses with unwanted and unpleasant sounds.  I was comfortable and enjoyed the down time this environment gave me.  I noticed the quiet.

We are surrounded everyday with noises.  It is embedded into our lives and our senses.  For most of us our day starts with a blaring alarm clock.  Then we watch the morning news, get in our cars and listen to the radios and go on with our day.  We'll hear people talking, shouting, laughing and crying.  We'll hear emergency sirens, construction work, airplanes, all the while not registering that we are hearing these things.  This is because are used to them.

This is my favorite part.  As I have aged I find that I have some hearing damage and loss.  I'm sure it is the result of being exposed to loud noises and loud music in my younger days.  Why is this my favorite part you ask?  Because it makes me take notice.  When I want to hear something I've missed it makes me stop and pay closer attention to it.   It makes me slow down.

When I am outside working in my gardens I hear the birds and the other critters who are talking madly with each other.  Sometimes some of them are downright loud!  When I am in a group of people who are talking at the same time I have to focus on one conversation.  This forces me to be an active listener and give that person my undivided attention.  It makes me enjoy the moment.

How many times have you told someone something and within a few minutes they ask you the question to what you just told them?   I think that is because we fill our days with so much multi-tasking that we have forgotten how to concentrate on one thing at a time.   Our brains are used to listening to the radio or television while working on the computer, doing a task and holding down a conversation at the same time.  This forces our brain to pick one thing to register to keep us sane!

That is why I believe we should practice listening to the quiet at least once a day.  To do this just sit down somewhere away from a lot of people and noise.  You don't have to be totally alone, just be in a fairly quiet place.  Then concentrate on the quiet.  Listen to the nothing in the air.  What do your hear?  I hear calmness.  What do you see in your mind's eye in the quiet?  I see peace.  What do you feel in your quiet spirit?  I feel God.

Now, you might hear and see and feel totally different things than I do.  That's the beauty of it.  Try it.  Try to do this every day.  Listen to the quiet.  It will do your heart and soul a world of good.

Peace be with you my dear friends.

SBG